14 Satchel Paige Quotes on Aging, Motion, and Not Looking Back
The pitcher who kept throwing into his fifties left behind lines about time that still land.
These satchel paige quotes come from a man who pitched in the majors past the age of 40 and once threw an inning at 59. He talked about aging the way he pitched: loose, unbothered, and a step ahead of everyone chasing him. His lines on staying young get quoted so often that people forget he actually lived them, out on a mound, for decades. Here are 14 worth sitting with.
Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you.
How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?
Age as a number you carry only because someone handed it to you. Paige pitched like a man who'd lost the paperwork.
Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
He could get away with saying this because he was still striking people out at an age when most players were coaching from a folding chair.
Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching.
Widely attributed to him, and it fits the loose, unguarded way he approached almost everything. Fear rarely showed up in his throwing hand.
Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood.
Satchel Paige from his rules for staying young
One of six half-serious rules he offered for a long life. The phrasing is so him that it's survived longer than the diet advice ever could.
Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend by Larry Tye
If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts.
Satchel Paige from his rules for staying young
Another of his rules, and proof he treated the body like a stubborn teammate you talk down rather than fight.
Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move.
Satchel Paige from his rules for staying young
Motion as the whole point. He believed stillness was the thing that actually aged you.
Go very light on the vices, such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain't restful.
Satchel Paige from his rules for staying young
A traveling ballplayer's honest read on the party circuit. He'd seen plenty of it and knew what it cost.
Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home plate don't move.
His entire pitching philosophy in two sentences. He liked to remind hitters and reporters that the target had never budged, only their nerves.
Maybe I'll Pitch Forever by Leroy Satchel Paige
I never rush myself. See, they can't start the game without me.
The confidence of a man who knew his own worth to the ticket window. There's a quiet lesson in it about controlling your own pace.
You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.
Showing up as the whole job, regardless of outcome. It reads like it's about baseball until you notice it isn't.
My feet ain't got nothing to do with my nerves.
A short, sly line about staying cool under pressure. He kept his composure separate from whatever the moment was doing.
Ain't no man can avoid being born average, but there ain't no man got to be common.
His answer to the whole question of where greatness comes from. You start where everyone starts, and then it's on you.
Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.
A rest-day philosophy from a man who understood the value of doing absolutely nothing on purpose. Even a mover needs to just sit.
Paige spent his whole life being told he was too old, too soon, or too late. He kept moving anyway. That's the thread running through all of it.
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The most quoted thing he ever said, and the strangest advice for a man whose whole career was people trying to hit what he threw. He preferred to keep his eyes forward.